IGLTAAs part of our commitment to expanding association outreach in Asia, IGLTA President/CEO John Tanzella will travel to Hong Kong to participate in the first "Miles of Love" event, a travel advocacy forum presented by Planet Ally and All Out at the Eaton Hotel (2-5 November). The forum will explore how the travel industry can work with LGBTQ communities and activists around the world to become agents of change. High-profile leaders and speakers from across the globe will offer insights, connections, solutions and training on bridging the gap between human rights and travel. IGLTA board member Shiho Ikeuchi is also included in the speaker lineup. Click here to buy tickets.

On 5 November, IGLTA will host a free travel business networking event to close the program.RSVP HERE

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Rivendell Media RIVENDELL MEDIA is the sales staff for more than 200 LGBT newspapers, magazines & entertainment guides & when you call us you are dealing directly with the publication. Rivendell Media will help you plan & execute media campaigns not only by region, city or budget but also by ethnicity, m/f readership, age & other critical indicators.

IGLTAThe third annual International Travel Crisis Management Summit (ITCMS) will be held on 8 November 2018 at the Royal Institution, London, on the day following World Travel Market. ITCMS has increasingly become the go-to-community for best practices in travel crisis management and communication, so that we as an industry can respond in the best and most responsible way to any situations we face. They seek to enable our industry to communicate with one voice, and to ensure that we are doing all we can to protect our customers, stakeholders and brands. Speakers include Fred Dixon, President/CEO of NYC & Company, the World Travel & Tourism Council, and IBM. As a member of IGLTA, we would be delighted if you would join VP-Communications LoAnn Halden at this event. Our members receive a special delegate rate of £99 (standard delegate rate is £299). Please register with the code ITCMSPartner.READ MORE

TimeRights groups and activists are mobilizing against a reported Trump administration plan to narrowly define gender, a move that could dramatically reduce federal protections for and recognition of transgender people.
LGBTQ supporters gathered Sunday night in New York's Washington Square Park, while others took to social media to blast what is seen as an attempt to marginalize transgender people.READ MORE

Nikkei Asian ReviewThailand may have a reputation for acceptance when it comes to the transgender females that perform in the capital's extravagant cabaret shows, but the country's legal system, like many in Southeast Asia, has traditionally been less accommodating to the LGBT community.
This appears to be changing, however, as the junta aims to prepare a bill that would effectively recognize same-sex unions by the end of this year.READ MORE

France 24A spate of high-profile attacks on the LGBT community has rattled rights groups in France and alarmed politicians ahead of a sensitive parliamentary debate on giving lesbian couples access to fertility treatment.
Some three thousand people attended a rally in central Paris on Sunday to denounce assaults on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and demand urgent action from the government.
READ MORE

Voice of AmericaMajority-Hindu Bali has long been considered more tolerant of different sexual identities compared with other parts of Indonesia, especially amid recent anti-LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) crackdowns in the world's largest Muslim-majority country.
But a beauty pageant promoting HIV education and equality was this month shutdown by Islamic hardliners, sparking concern among some in the LGBT community that Bali is no longer a safe place.READ MORE

Los Angeles Times
More than a year after a landmark legal ruling cleared the way for Taiwan to become the first place in Asia to recognize same-sex marriage, Taiwanese voters could reverse that distinction if they approve a ballot initiative declaring that marriage should be limited only to people of opposite sexes.
The initiative, one of three LGBTQ-related measures on the Nov. 24 ballot, could slow, or even halt, implementation of a court ruling that ordered the island to change its civil code by removing a provision that effectively banned same-sex marriage. READ MORE

Reuters via Bangkok PostIndonesian police have arrested two men who allegedly operated a Facebook account to facilitate meet-ups for gay people and other sex-related services, a senior officer in the province of West Java said on Sunday.
The men were charged with breaking electronic information law by creating and transmitting pornographic content, a crime that carries a maximum sentence of six years' imprisonment and a maximum fine of 1 billion rupiah (2 million baht).READ MORE

The Associated Press via KNOE-TVA new program aims to welcome LGBT travelers to New Orleans.
Under the new program by the New Orleans LGBT Hospitality Alliance, participating businesses will get an informational packet that includes a "welcome" sticker to display inside their business.
The packet also includes a checklist to ensure their business is more inclusive and information about the LGBT community.READ MORE

The Japan TimesUntil a few years ago, Rin Okabe, then the general affairs department manager at a subsidiary of ad agency Dentsu Inc., would say goodbye to his wife and son, and commute to work wearing a conventional suit and tie. But quietly, Okabe wanted to be viewed as a woman. In 2012, Okabe sent an email to 200 colleagues to reveal that she is transgender.READ MORE